


Time of the Spirits

by SweeTarts151



Series: Spirits Help me Now [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 10:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6113854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweeTarts151/pseuds/SweeTarts151
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of the 3 months after the fall of the mountain as well as the three year before Clarke was reunited with everyone. (This is set between chapter four and five in The Ursa and The Heda.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time of the Spirits

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing mention in this story, let me know what you guys think. Think of it as a one year (And one day) anniversary gift. Thank you guys for sticking with The Ursa and The Heda.

_**One Month Since the Fall of the Mountain** _

There is the barely there sound of the entrance opening to the tent. Commander continues to stare at the map in front of her as she speaks to the person entering _. "Indra."_

Behind her the woman bows her head, cheek bruised from training the day before. _"Heda, the mountain is left untouched."_

Lexa clenches her jaw, staring at the small model of the sky camp in front of her. _"The sky people have not taken it over?"_

 _"No, they do not go near it not, but the mountain men are in the ground."_ Indra lifts her chin, face impassive. _"I saw the filled hole myself five nights ago."_

The Commander's shoulders relax and she turns to face her warrior. The mountain men's spirits would not travel into the next life, they would not haunt them. _"It is a graveyard of death, they are smart to avoid it."_ The young brunette swallows thickly, keeping her eyes trained on Indra's ear. The older woman keeps her gaze to the Commander's shoulder, letting her show what she can in emotion as she forces the words through a thick throat. _"Is there news?"_

The dark woman's face twists into a scowl. _"Clarke has not been spotted in Sky camp since the fall of the mountain. None have seen her."_ Indra tilts her chin up, meeting the Heda's face. _"Her people mourn._ "

Green eyes find Indra's dark ones sharply, narrowed and with a stilling chest." _You think she is dead?"_

 _"No, they search the forest for her, but it has been a moon cycle since the fall of the mountain."_ Indra moves her gaze from an armor-less shoulder to guarded green eyes. _"She is nowhere to be found._ " All she receives is a jerking nod from her Commander. 

Lexa turns her eyes back to the map on the table beside her, hands tight on the pommel of her sword as she traces the small scale cities with her eyes. " _And the others, the Clans?_ "

Indra stiffens, nose wrinkling in distrust. _"Have kept to their boundaries so far."_

 _"We must hold a celebration, war parties have left and the ones held in the mountain have finally been returned home."_ Lexa stares at the lines of the territories in front of her, stares at the mark of the Ice Nation and then the Mountain before finding Polis on the map. _"The people of Polis question my leading, they'll need something to focus their attention on."_

Indra bares her teeth, hand tightening on her sword. _"They would do well to keep their mouth shut and minds off of treason."_

The Commander's shoulders slump slightly and she isn't the Commander of the twelve clans, she's Lexa, the child Indra watched grow up. There is the same pain in those eyes and the same wisdom Indra had grown to expect before her shoulders stiffen and she is once again the Heda. _"I left the mountain men alive Indra, I failed my people."_

 _"The mountain is gone, you saw it and it became true."_ Voice thick with conviction, Indra steps closer to her Commander. " _They are dead."_

Green eyes spark with anger, self loathing and pain. _"But I did not tear it down."_

 _"No, but we had little casualties."_ Indra meets her gaze head on, calm and cool even under harsh green eyes _. "You saved most of our people."_

 _"Not Ton Dc."_ Her words crack and her throat tightens.

 _"My village was a casualty of war."_ Indra swallows down her own emotions, face tight. _"People die, we will rebuild."_

Lips trembling Lexa lets out a sharp breath. _"I could have saved them."_

Indra's expression doesn't change as she speaks. _"And risked the mountain men winning."_

Lexa eyes widen, the white showing before she schools her features again _. "How long have you known?"_

 _"I've known you since you were young, I know what your guilt looks like."_ Indra blinks impossibly slow, tilting her chin to the blackened spot on the map. _"The Ursa had it as well."_

Lexa clenches her jaw, fingers itching to find something to slash at. _"Do any others know?"_

_"No, I have kept it to myself."_

The Commander's eyes widen and she lets out a soft sigh _. "Indra."_

Indra scowls at her, leaning her shoulders back with a glare. _"You do not owe me gratitude or apologies, you did what you must to save the many."_

 _"Polis is already in duress._ " Lexa sighs, hands clicking at the chain across her hip. _"When they discover what has happened they will revolt."_

" _They will not find out the truth about Ton DC. Come, we must announce the celebration."_  Indra turns her head, hand falling from her sword. _"It will distract them for some time."_

_"Not long enough, they will question soon."_

With a flash of her teeth Indra steps close to the Commander. _"Then I will shut them up."_

_"Indra."_

_"You are the Heda, my Commander."_ Indra's gaze is unwavering. _"No harm will come to you while I am alive."_

"Moch of Indra. _"_  Lexa's words are quiet and she receives a glare from the woman that makes her lips twist at the edges.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

The dark begins to recede as the sun rises slowly across the sky, lighting it up a soft pink and orange. Dark eyes stare at it, freckles slowly showing across the bridge of his nose as it get lighter, hands loose on a gun. The hairs on the man's neck rise and he doesn't bother turning around as he speaks. "Morning."

Lincoln dips his head softly in greeting at Bellamy's words, coming to stand beside him in the soft fur jacket. The green is dark and his tattoos a stark contrast against the light on falling across him. "Do you have plans today?"

"Sargent Miller wants to set up a hunting party. Chancellor Griffin wants to check out the mountain for supplies sometimes soon."

Lincoln stiffens, dark eyes swirling with conflict. "She steps foot near the mountain and there will be war."

Bellamy swallows, keeping his gaze to the forest as his jaw trembles. "The dead are rotting in there."

"And they will continue to." Lincoln steps closer, his hands twitch and he holds himself back from setting a hand on Bellamy's elbow, much like he would when Nyko was emotional. "If you go near the mountain the clans will think you want the weapons. That you want to take it over."

Bellamy turns his head to stare at the man who had fought so long to save them since the beginning. "How will they know?"

"They'll have scouts posted on it."

Bellamy's shoulders slump and he lets out a deep sigh. "Even now?"

"Yes. The mountain as a threat, if the Sky people get hands on it they fear it will be another war with the mountain." He swallows, images of Ton DC forever ingrained in his memory. "Weapons they can't _fight_ against."

Bellamy turns his head away. "We _should_ have buried them before we came here."

This time Lincoln does set nimble fingers to Bellamy's elbow. "You did not know you could not go back."

Bellamy steps away from Lincoln's hand, voice thick. "Train the hundred, I need to go on the hunting party."

"You shouldn't go alone." The earth born warrior holds back stepping close to his beloved's brother. "Let me come with you."

Bellamy shakes his head, thick hair sticking to his forehead. "You have a kill order on your head, we all know this. Octavia wouldn't forgive me if I let you go and get yourself killed."

"I can't sit in camp and hide like the Ripa _Finn."_   Hands fisted Lincoln almost begs the man in front of him.

"Just until the kill order is lifted."

Lincoln scoffs, taking a step back. "It will never be lifted."

"Then we bide our time." Bellamy nods his head to the guard that walks up to take over gate duty. "Come on, we can wake them up and you can train them. They'll need it."

Lincoln lets his gaze flicker to the guard that had eyed the grounder like he would stabbed him in the back. "All of your people will need it."

Bellamy scowls. "The adults don't trust you yet." His dark eyes meet Lincoln's, dark yet soft. "I trust you and so do the others, that's _all_ that matters."

They both walk to the small set of tents to the back end of Camp Jaha, near the fences. Bellamy taps a long bar against a post in the ground. It rings out loudly through the slowly lightening air. "Rise and shine." His voice echoes and slowly groans and mumbled greetings sound. The ones who fell to Earth long before the Arc trickle out of the tents they had built themselves. "Kane's given us schedules again today. Follow them."

Miller stretches high on his toes, cracking his shoulders, rubbing at his left one. "We on fence building again?"

Raven pops from one of the tent with a groan, rubbing at her hips as she stumbles to her feet. Monroe offers a shoulder that Raven rolls her eyes at before taking, still weak from the mountain. Bellamy eyes her in worry, watching the slow jump of her pulse in her neck. His heart calms as he finds the steady beat. After the mountain she had an attack, heart skipping beats due to her murmur and the electroshock she had received in the mountain. His eyes search over all his people, checking over them continuously as he speaks. "For the afternoon yes, I talked Kane into letting Lincoln train you guys this morning." His shoulders straighten and his eyes bore into each of them. "You're all going to train."

Murphy scoffs low in his throat. "Sir yes sir."

"Murphy." Bellamy growls out.

"Yeah yeah." The sarcastic boy rolls his eyes. Bellamy grunts low in his throat before turning around to face the others.

The rest watch him with bemused grins as they pull their hair from their faces and lace their boots. "I'll be back, Miller you're with me." His eyes search the gathering teenagers in front of him. "Where's Octavia?"

Half of the remaining forty-eight shrug their shoulder and look pointedly at Lincoln. The man lets his lips purse into a thoughtful look before finding Bellamy's eyes. "She is around."

Bellamy grits his teeth. _"Lincoln."_

The dark skinned man tilts his chin high. "She can take care of herself."

Bellamy shakes his head, fingers running through his hair. "She could have a kill order on her head to Lincoln."

"She will be fine."

Bellamy clenches his jaw. "Fine. After lunch you guys need to help with the fence, Raven they want you welding."

Raven throws a sloppy salute and an overly stern face. "Aye Aye Captain."

Bellamy huffs through his nose, pinching the bridge of it. "I swear you are all children. I'll be back with food tonight, try not to kill one another." A chorus of 'Sir Yes Sir' greets him and a wry grin twists across his face as he shakes his head in amusement, forty-eight grins matching his own.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Clarke walks into the next room, bag full of necessities on her shoulder. She winces as the bag pulls at the slowly healing wounds inflicted what seems like ages ago when she saved Finn's life. The woman with dark eyes and a trembling frame looks up. She licks her lips. "Clarke."

Clarke flicks her gaze over the woman's thin frame. "Isole, how are you feeling?"

"Like I can't eat."

"That'll pass." Clarke leans down near the woman.

Isole is sitting with chains on her wrists, sweating profoundly as Clarke checks over her vitals and sets packs of ice from medical on her weary muscles and Isole trembles even more. "Tell me. Tell me about the sky." Brown eyes are full of pain as she grits her teeth and speak. "Did it hurt when you fell?"

Clarke snorts softly and Isole stares at her in confusion, wincing at the throbbing in her head and the rolling of her stomach. "It was a line to get someone's attention long ago, to try and get them to go on a date with you."

Isole stares at Clarke in furrowed confusion. "Falling from the sky?"

Clarke's lips tremble as they struggle to form a grin. "From heaven, they'd ask if it hurt because they looked like an angel."

"Angel?"

Clarke finishes taking a vial of blood from the grounder and tapes a cotton ball to the small wound. "They're like your spirits, like the Ursa but they have wings."

Isole nods her head, face stern as she meets Clarke's steady gaze. "You make a very good angel of the sky then."

Clarke's expression darkens. "i'm no angel."

"You said they are the spirits of your people?"

Clarke begins to place the supplies back in the bag. "Some of my people, not all of them."

Isole looks too confused as she holds the lump of bread Clarke presses into her hand. "They don't believe in spirits?"

Clarke look up, biting her lip until she comes to some conclusion in her head. "Each religion is different, has different spirits."

"Who is your spirit?"

Clarke looks down, focusing more than she needs to on the task at hand. "The Ursa."

Isole leans forward, eyes pained but curious. "And in the sky?"

"I stopped believing in them a long time ago." Clarke words are soft and her lips shake, too many memories in her head. "Sleep, you'll need it." She stands with jerking stiff limbs. "I'll be back to check on you, the others need me as well."

* * *

* * *

* * *

**Two months after the Fall**

Clarke travels the tunnels again after her rotations, finding another dead body. She cries over it, deep body wreaking cries that echo through the tunnels. She wipes the foam from his lips and bundles him in cloth, hands gentle like he would fall apart at the slightest show of pressure. She heaves him into a cart with difficulty, grunting under his weight and the pain of her healing wounds. Wounds she managed to keep reopening. With the tunnels ingrained in her memory she pushes through them until she is on the other side of the mountain, far from where she and Anya jumped. Far from Mount Weather entrance and from Lexa's people. She sets him with the charcoal remains of reapers lost before him, burned in a pyre like the others had asked her to do. To release their spirits to their next life. Her hands shake and she crosses another notch on the wall, already marked by dozens of other white jagged scratches. She watches the sun rise shoulders trembling as she sets them aflame. "May you meet your family and friends in your next life."

She waits until the fire is gone and the sun has risen higher before she makes her way back to the underground hellhole she called camp for these last few months. The door opens with a delayed hiss and Clarke ducks into the hallway, grabbing her medical bag and heading to the rooms. There are shouts coming from the furthest room and Clarke runs down there to see Isole struggling to get out of her bonds. "He is dying!" Isole jerks her hands towards the next room. "Help him."

Clarke slams to her knees in front of the man with once bright green eyes. She shines the light in them before unbuckling the chains. His limbs shake and she can hear the others struggling to see what is happening. He shakes before vomiting all over the floor and Clarke. She presses her hand to his forehead and glazed eyes find hers. His breathing is shallow. "You've been good since I took you off the red. I gave you the substituted to help." Her mind is flashing as she gentle strops his sweat soaked mangled face before realization hits her. "I gave you clonidine yesterday, you're body filters medicine faster." She presses her hand into his chest and brings out another dose. "I'm sorry." With deft precise fingers she allows the medicine to enter his system. He twitches and begins to calm. 

His eyes clear and he lets out a pained grunt. _"Sorry."_

Clarke presses her head to his chest, listening to the thunder of his heart as it slows. "You're fine. You're fine."

* * *

 Clarke makes her rounds after that with shaking hands and find one of the youngest former reapers sitting in a room that isn't his. The man chained in the room twists the young man's hair in intricate braids with trembling fingers that create slight snarls. "Locke that hurts." The young man's voice is slightly pained and annoyed, almost childish.

"Sorry." The man is as old as Clarke's mother but full of wiry muscle where her mother and father weren't, even in his malnutritioned state. He untangles the braid and Clarke leaves them to the braiding. Her hands tremble but she heads into one of the rooms she hardly visited. It is full of clothing, starched white sharp corners and folded they awaited their dead owners. Thankfully the room is down in the tunnel facilities and not in the actual mountain, she grabs a brush and makes her way back to the room with the two men. The man called Locke eyes her warily but takes the brush with a jerking nod before setting to combing the younger man's hair with trembling wrists.

* * *

* * *

* * *

The sound of a panicked scream fills the air and most of the Arc does not wake, too used to the sounds of terror and grief from the tents hidden far back in camp. Monty sits up with a panting chest and there is the sound of his tent opening, a tall shadow stumbling their way in. Bellamy's face comes into view. "I heard you screaming."

"A nightmare, of the mountain." Monty shivers. "They were going to drill into me again and I shot them before typing in the sequence." He hugs himself. "I saw them falling apart from radiation after that." Bellamy sits down on the low pile of blanket and a thin mattress stuffed with straw, he pulls Monty into his chest, reminded of Octavia and her nightmares so long ago.

"If I could have i'd have done this instead of you Monty." Monty lets Bellamy rock him back and forth, listening to the words as they reverberate from Bellamy's chest.

Monty sniffles into his chest, fingers clutched around the blanket. "You and Clarke are the same."

Bellamy stiffens in shock. "What?"

"She acted too fast, pulled the lever herself so you wouldn't have to." Monty rubs at his eyes and swallows. "So you wouldn't be burdened with it."

Bellamy hugs the frail teenager to his chest even tighter as Monty's voice cracks. "I promise Monty, everything will be fine."

Monty lets out a quiet sob, hands trembling. "How? I helped kill those people."

Bellamy's jaw tremble and he sighs low in his chest. "Some time ago I destroyed a radio and that lead to three hundred innocent people dying. I was scared and selfish, You weren't Monty." Bellamy pulls back so Monty will look him in the eyes. "You set it up so that our friends could be saved."

"They trusted us. They were innocent."

Bellamy tilts his head to the top of the tent, his eyes water and his voice quivers as he thinks of Maya and the others that he had grown to know. "None of us are innocent Monty. None of us." Bellamy hugs him tighter. "You don't have to go through this alone."

"I'm used to having Jasper, he hates me now. I don't blame him." Monty wipes at his face again with the sleeves of his shirt. "I can hear his nightmares. I can hear him calling for Maya and it breaks me all over again."

"We're all a little bit broken Monty, but we'll heal." Bellamy sighs as images of those dead flash before his eyes. Fifty-two of his people and then the three hundred, then the mountain people. "We have to."

"What if we don't what if we're never fine?"

Bellamy chokes down what ever is crawling its way up his chest, despair written across his face. "We have to be."

* * *

 Harper watches with worry as she finds Monroe in the 'gym' after hearing Abby and Raven discuss the chancellor's daughter. "Why are you so angry when Clarke is mentioned?"

The smaller girl continues to kick and punch at the dummy in front of her, knuckle flaring with each too hard hit. "She _left_ us here." Monroe turns wild eyes on the girl that became her best friend and so much more. "Family doesn't leave family behind and she left us."

Harper steps close, hands reaching out. "Monroe."

"No Harper." Monroe steps back, eyes watering as her fists shake. "She left us after _everything._ She left Bellamy and Raven and _us._ She left us here and we don't know if she is alive or _dead."_ Monroe wipes at her face jerkily. "We lost half of our family, of the hundred already and she just walks away."

Harper steps closer, pulling Monroe into her chest as the younger girl trembles. "People deal with greif in different way Roe, left her grieve her own way."

Monroe's hands fist into her girlfriend's shirt. "We all lost somebody." 

"She lost herself." Harper shivers at the memories of the mountain, of holding Monty that first night after the mountain. "Give her time to figure out who she is. Killing those people to save us, it changes a person. Give her time."

Monroe lets out a shuddering sigh, hands stinging from the onslaught she had given them. "We need her here with us, Bellamy's breaking."

"Clarke probably is too, they're not each others keepers. They'll." She pauses, hugging Monroe tighter. _"We'll_ figure it out, we always do."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Silent feet pace the thick stone of the Heda's war chambers and a slight creak has the woman spinning to watch Indra step through the thick wooden do. _"News?"_

Indra dips her chin in greeting before meeting her Commander's eyes head on. _"No, the sky camp has yet to move to the mountain. They avoid it."_

The Commander relaxes and green eyes soften yet grow guarded. _"Good, and the other task?"_

Indra tilts her chin high, though her shoulders drop. _"She has not been found."_

 _"If she is alive she will be near."_ Lexa begins pacing again. _"Try the trading posts, they ask no questions. She'll need supplies."_

"Heda, we've checked." Indra steps closer, eyes flittering over the drawn face of the Commander. "If you keep this man hunt going your people will grow weary."

Lexa clenches her fists, jaw tightening. "I don't believe her to be dead."

"Ask the spirits then." Indra jerks her chin to the dark kohl stained on the Heda's fingers.

"They are not answering me at the moment." The younger woman swallows thickly. "The Heda is still angry about the betrayal."

Indra stares at her in disbelief. "You _are_ the Heda."

"I am her vessel." Lexa turns her eyes to the black staining her fingers. "Even a captain can curse the vessel they ride in."

"The Heda sees the future." Indra's gaze bores into he younger leader. "Did she not know this would happen?"

A haunted expression darkens Lexa's face. "There were many outcomes, I chose the one to save the most of our people."

"You saw the fall of the mountain without leaving the sky people?"

"I saw thousands of our warriors dead many times." She closes her eyes as the images of all those possible futures dance across her eyes. _Blood coating the ground and tears in her eyes as she screams a broken victory, throat raw._ "I saw the sky people dead more often than not. I saw their camp bombed like Ton DC." Lexa shivers as the images come back to her. _Blue eyes looking up at her vacantly, blonde hair coated in blood._ "I saw Clarke die at the hand of those they called _innocent._ I saw the mountain men prevail in two instances, our blood staining their white walls and their feet touching our ground, with blood that wasn't theirs in their body. I could not allow any of that to happen." Lexa opens her eyes to stare at Indra, eyes seeming to search for a thousand answers. "I used my head. It is why I am Heda."

"You made the hard choice Commander." Indra looks up to meet her gaze, lips drawn into a stern line. "But do not worry your heart now, if the sky girl is alive she will show up. If she is not then she will be in the next life. Polis is calm for now, worry about trade routes and training the children."

Lexa sighs, nodding her head and turning away from one of her greatest generals. "Keep me updated Indra."

Indra holds in a sigh, chest stilled. "Yes Heda."

* * *

* * *

* * *

 Clarke sits against the wall, feet spread out across the floor with a slightly burnt plate of food on her lap. "I have had worse." Isole sits down next to her, smiling softly as Datak pokes at the burnt spots before shoving his piece of meat onto Locke's plate and taking the man's slightly less burnt piece. He gets a grunt in response and Isole chuckles lightly as Clarke lets a trembling grin cross her face. 

Clarke shoves a piece of the food into her mouth. "This is better than most of what we had on the Arc."

Isole shifts to allow her back to press into the cold wall, it soothes the injuries on there. "You did not eat meat up there?"

"We didn't have any animals up there." Clarke shrugs, itching at a scab over her left hand. "We lived on supplements and daily packets. Sometimes the occasional vegetable."

Isole grimaces as she eats the boar, nose wrinkled at the taste in the back of her throat. "It explain the burnt boar then."

Clarke shakes her head, eyeing the large group of reapers, some begging to remain in chains even as they all eat the food in front of them. Most slowly and cautiously, due to their stomachs as well as Clarke's cooking, Baladan drops down next to them. "Next time I cook the food."

Clarke snorts, taking another bite of the boar, not even wincing at the taste. One of the other grimaces and goes for the apple sauce Clarke had confiscated from the pantry down here. Shoving the meat onto another person's plate with a wince. Isole shrugs at Clarke's somewhat confused expression. "Some of them do not like the feel of meat in their mouth." Isole's face pales and she shoves her own plate away with a grimace. "We are learning to eat it again."

Clarke offers a soft look. "We'll let them blame it on my cooking then."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Lexa walks the streets of Polis, boots silent on the thick cobble beneath her feet. Children run amok, dodging around carts and adults with laughter. Lexa watches them with a soft smile on her face. She receives many dipped chins and soft smiles, though some stare at her with a wary disdain. Thoughts on the mountain. She ignores those looks and lets her eyes find the children training in the far yard, shouts and goading words loud and brash. Lexa bites her lip, squaring her shoulders as she step close. "Atlas, how are our warriors?" Her English is slow but even and the children listen intently, translating the words in their young minds.

Atlas, as short as Lexa but with thick broad shoulders and the same dark hair stands with a too wide toothy grin that he lets fall into a stern scowl. "They improve."

Her eyes flicker to the children, ranging from seven summers to fourteen, still so young. "Where is Kara?"

"Healing." His gaze darts to the apprentice shop over the walk way. "She goes there every third day."

"It is a good skill." Lexa surveys the children, the dirt on their face and their lips trembling to smile but remaining stern. "Show me your sword abilities young warriors. Pair up. " She grabs a long bo-staff from the weapons rack, spinning it and watching their eyes widen at her quick movements. "Atlas, let us practice for old times sake."

The man snorts, nodding his head to the children into motion, they pair up with thin wooden swords and sharp smiles. "You call it practice. I call it a fight for my life."

Lexa's lips twist into a half smirk, fire dancing in her eyes. "Have you gotten worse with old age Atlas?"

The man grins at her, too wide with a show of teeth. "Simply less flexible Alexandria." His eyes flash as he spins his staff. "Same rules as when we were children?"

Lexa chuckles deeply, walking a circle around him as he steps to keep her in his line of sight. "There were no rules."

"Loser cleans weapons then." He spins his staff to connect with hers, both of them wearing wide grins as the young warriors jump into their own dueling pairs.

* * *

* * *

* * *

**Three months after the fall of the mountain**

The fire is bright in the darkness, the sounds of the resting breaking the night air. The world lies at rest, gathering strength for the day as the girl with too bright hair sits near the fire, drawing warmth from it as she watches and listens for danger, the stars bright above her. Her blue eyes are half lidded yet alert as her fingers touch her gun over and over again, turning the weight of the pistol in her hands like a coin. Turning and turning as the cool metal heats from her palms, warm yet cold and heavy. Fingers begins to tremble and she swallows down the emotion building in her chest, the panic setting in as gunshots echo in her head and ghost weigh heavy on her hand.

Something drops on her shoulder and the blonde kicks out with her feet, rolling away and turning around, finger on the trigger with wide eyes. The green eyed rider whose face is marred by horrendous overlapping scars holds his hands up gently, eyes soft and imploring as the fire dances off of them. "I will take watch now."

Clarke's hands shake and she lets out a sharp breath. "I'm good, go back to sleep."

The warrior looks at her with a gentle understanding, his own demons showing in the shadows of his eyes. "You need rest as well."

Clarke turns her eyes away from him as she brings the gun back to her thighs, switching the safety on and swallowing thickly as she shakes her head, siting back down by the fire. "I'm fine Baladan."

"We all must rest sometime Clarke." The blonde remains silent and the man sits down next to her, pulling out his knife. His fingers find a thick piece of branch set aside for the fire, with careful precise movements he begins to carve into the bark, chipping it away slowly as they sit in silence. Clarke relaxes against the tree stump her back had found, her eyes are on the fire and the man beside her hums a gentle tune. He continues to work on the wood as the moon falls lower and lower into the sky, some of the other riders awake with shouts of panic before calming, their eyes finding Clarke and relaxing. Memories of a mountain and death trapped in their bodies. Memories of a drug that made them into something awful forces them awake but the presence of the girl who saved them calms their panic, Baladan's soft humming lulling them back to sleep under the soft light of the moon and stars.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 Bellamy runs, feet pounding on the earth, rifle on his shoulder and spear in his hand. Miller lets out a loud whoop to corral the boar into Bellamy's direction and the man grins, ducking under a branch. There is a flash of white near his eyes, but he ignores the cloth tied to the tree as he releases the spear. It soars straight and true into the boar's side, right under it's front leg. The boar lets out a squealing pained sound before stumbling its way towards Miller a few yards to the left. 

Bellamy ambles after it, following the blood trail before suddenly his world is spinning. His back is shoved into the ground and a knife is pressed to his throat. "Yu laik out gon yu range."

Bellamy holds up his hand, eyes on the man whose face is hidden by the bone mask. "I don't speak trigedasleng. English please."

The above him glare down through the thick grey fur covering the bone mask, chest heaving and eyes murderous. "You are out of your territory."

Bellamy warily remains still, his gun trapped under the warrior's knee. "I didn't know."

The man above him scoffs. "You passed the marker."

"What marker?" Bellamy shifts to test the man's position.

The knife is pressed further into his throat and there is a deep growl to his voice. "The white cloth, even a babe could see it. You hunt not on your land."

The downed sky guard keeps his voice calm, hands loose and body relaxed. "Easy, this is a misunderstanding." There is the sudden flash of movement and the man atop of Bellamy is thrown off. He slumps to the side, blood dripping from a wound. With a scowl he glares at the woman who offers Bellamy her hand. "Echo?"

Echo stares at him with a cautious annoyance. "Bellamy, you are out of skai territory." her shoulders tense as she shoots a glare to the man who remains sitting against a tree, hand pressed to the wound. "They could kill you for this."

"Didn't know we had boundaries." He rubs at his throat, glaring at the man who presses a cloth to his head and scowls at Bellamy, the mask cracked on the ground. 

Echo steps closer to Bellamy, voice hard. "Jakof, go back to your camp. He means no harm."

The man stands with a sound of frustration and anger. "He hunted on land that was not his. I am owed his head or kill."

"No need to start a war, you will get the kill." Echo tilts her head to Miller who is dragging the boar already field dressed and on a sled to them with caution.

"Bellamy, everything okay here?" Miller darts eyes to the hostile man, hand twitching for his gun but remaining still.

With a sigh Bellamy rubs at his throat again. "Give him the boar, we were hunting on their grounds."

Miller takes in the tense air and passes over the sled before pressing the bags of organs into the man's hands. "I figured it's be skinned later, it's cleaned already." His voic eis even where most would be angry. 

The man glares at them all. "You've saved your sky boy this time Echo, be wary."

Echo glares back at him, muscles tense and threatening. "Go scavenge for parts Jakof." She spits out, glaring at his back as he retreats. "You must be wary Bellamy, they fear your people will retaliate for the mountain."

Bellamy scoffs, jaw tight. "Believe me, Abby won't let anyone."

Echo watches him with a wary stiffness. "And you?"

Bellamy licks his lips. "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle." He swallows, clenching his teeth. "The Commander understood that."

Echo's eyebrow raises and she nods her head. "Wise words Bellamy of the sky."

"I read."

Echo tilts her head, furrowing her brows. "And what are those words from?"

"A book called The Art of war."

"A wise warrior wrote it then." Her lips twitch and she stares at him impassively. "Did it not tell you not to hunt on land that is not yours?"

Bellamy laughs, shaking his head. "Something like that." Miller watches the forest, his back to Echo and Bellamy as they talk. Trusting. "Can we put fences up."

Echo grunts low in her throat disapprovingly. "It would disturb the animals migrations."

He rubs at the hair falling on his forehead, shoving it away before it falls back down. "How do we hunt in the right places?"

"Make markers." Her chin jerks to the white cloth and her eyes are cautious. "The others do, we'll find your hunting ground."

Her jerks from the staring at the white marker to look at her. "You're coming?"

Her shoulders are tense and face drawn, she shifts her feet. "I cannot go home Bellamy, I disgraced my people being taken by the mountain."

Miller looks over his shoulder between them, shakes his head and adjusts his beanie with a knowing smirk. 

* * *

"You're people will be fine with this?" Echo's hands are tight on the knife at her side and Miller walks far in front of them, a false sense of privacy.

"Lincoln's in camp too." Bellamy sets his hand on her shoulder softly, slowly. "I'll vouch for you, you'll be fine."

The warrior's jaw clenches and she shifts her feet. "It is not wise to accept those that betrayed you into your camp."

Bellamy scowls at her. "You haven't betrayed me."

"My Commander did."

"That was her." Bellamy stiffens, muscles to taut with anger. "You were just following orders, you had to get out."

Echo grips his forearm harshly, slowing his quick walk down. "I am sorry you were left in there."

He swallows, eyes dark with ghosts. "We managed."

She stares at him, other hand loosening on her knife. "That you did."

The gates come into view and Monroe is sitting in a harness, hanging high above the ground as she helps weld a new higher piece to the wall. She glances down at them. "You didn't bring any food?" Her grin is part wry and part broken.

"I brought a friend." Bellamy shouts out.

Monroe repels down the wall with a kick of her feet and a twitch of her wrist. Sweat stains the tank top she wears, and she throws the welding helmet on her pack as she jogs over to them. "Hey Miller, you're dad wanted to talk to you." She grins at him before looking past Bellamy. "Who's this?"

Bellamy tilts his chin high, voice thick. "She's a friend from the mountain, we were caged next to one another."

The girl sticks her hand out, there is a wariness there but also trust for Bellamy. "I'm Monroe."

Echo looks to Bellamy, spots the forming smile and the almost loving expression in his eyes. The girl was one of his. "Echo." The Ice warrior grips Monroe's forearm tightly before releasing it. "You're walls are." She pause searching her brain. "Coming along."

Monroe snorts, fingers twitching. Her knuckles are scared but not scabbed. "Yeah, Kane's got me and Raven welding like crazy. The others are too nervous to have their backs to the woods."

Echo takes in the helmet sitting on the bag and the metal piece dangling from the wall. "Welding?"

"Yeah." Monroe scrunches her nose and shifts on her feet. "Putting two metal pieces together and using hot metal to make them stay together. Raven rigged it up so it would be easier to do the wall." She shrugs. "I can show you if you want, Harper's on weapons duty so i'll be out here a while."

Echo stiffens, eyeing the harness on Monroe's legs and waist. "I will watch from the ground."

Monroe nods, flashing a nervous grin, eyes dark with caution. Bellamy shoves her away with a hand to her shoulder, gentle and happy. The girl had fought her nerves and anger to make Echo feel welcome. Make her at home just because Bellamy trusted her. "Not everyone likes to hang from a rope Monroe, you and Raven are both greasy science monkeys."

Monroe snorts, rolling back her shoulder and sending a fake glare at Bellamy. "Raven was in Zero-G, she's used to floating not hanging."

"Then get back to work." His face is stern before a grin cracks at the corners, sun bright against his freckles. "Before they put you on latrine duty."

Monroe scowls. "Hey I'm doing my job." Her eyes dance slightly, still dark with harsher emotions left over from the mountain but growing lighter. "You and Miller didn't bring any food back."

  
"No, but we found out something important." He begins to walk forward, picking up her welding helmet and tossing it to her with a smirk. "Get back up there, i'll bring Echo around to watch you weld if she wants to understand it."

"Yeah yeah." She blinks, rubbing at her knuckles. "You okay?" Her gaze flickers to the redness of his throat.

"Peachy Monroe." His voice drips with sarcasm but affection and the younger warrior shake her head, braid tumbling down her back as she rolls her eyes at the man who had saw something in her that those of the Arc never could.

She scales back up the wall once her harness is re-attached to the wall. Echo stares at her, looking from the distance to the ground back up to the small girl. "You sky people like your feet off the ground."

Bellamy laughs, shaking his head as he hands his automatic over to one of the other guards when they walk through the gate and takes the pistol from his offered hand. The man nods to Echo, taking in her close proximity to Bellamy, and the knife on her thigh. "I like my feet firmly planted on the ground." He shivers, rubbing at his neck. "Lets find Kane and Abby."

One of the other guards steps closer, shoving past the older man under Miller's command who had nodded at Echo. "Bellamy, she is a _grounder."_

"So is Lincoln." He tilts his chin in challenge. "I trust her."

The man grips his gun tightly. "You and your sister toss that around too much."

Bellamy steps close until her towers over the older man. "Back off Huntington."

The other guard yanks the man back. "Let's go, we need to get to the western scout tower."

Huntington growls, spinning. "Fucking grounder pounders."

Bellamy clenches his jaw but turns away to lead Echo to Abby and Kane. "Your people are wise to be wary."

His nose flares and his gaze is burning with anger. "It's uncalled for. You're a friend."

Echo shrugs, eyes lazily moving around the camp. "To you, not to them."

"You're a friend." His hand twitches to touch her shoulder but he stops. "They should trust my judgment. I've been here longer than they have."

Echo searches his face before swallowing. "Even friends can turn to enemies." Bellamy flinches, heart aching as he remembers the mountain. Remembers Maya's father and all the children. All the revolutionists that had helped him. That had died to save his people.

"Yeah." His voice is thick with pain and grief.

* * *

They're in the room days later, Lincoln marking on a board with bright colors and s furrow to his brow. There are markers stained into his finger tips and forearm, Echo grunting out answers and staring at the map they had drawn yesterday. "The River Clan moved up slightly." Her fingers carefully trace across the board. "Traded boats to the Trikru to gain more ground."

Lincoln tilts his head in confusion. "The Trikru has no use for boats."

"Polis is by the ocean, The Village decided to disperse." The leader wants to travel the ocean."

Lincoln's face grows slack with shock. "The Commander approved of the loss of territory?"

Echo winces. "You know how the River and Tree are tied."

Lincoln nods, face grim. "Yes." He erases the river territory before redrawing it. "Have any other lines changed out there?"

"Not that I know of, the nomads continue to travel through the forest. They are dying in the desert."

Lincoln grunts and Echo rolls the parchment back up. "I am going to the west most village, do you think Bellamy would come?"

Lincoln opens his mouth as Bellamy walks though the door, eyebrow raised and a grin twitching at his lips. "Where are we going?"

"We need a few horses Bellamy, I know people to trade with."

"What do we trade them?" Bellamy shifts his feet, curious.

Her hands motion jerkily around her. "Metal, they'll use most of it to make swords."

"Anything else?"

"Medicine would help." Her eyes turn to Lincoln. "Abby has new practices, if you write them down in the book we could trade it. They trust the sky healer who brought the reaper back from the dead."

His lips twitch and he uncrosses his arms. "When do we leave?"

"Tonight, we need to make it down there in three days, they have a trading festival." She finishes rolling up the other two parchments and stand tall. "It is the best time to go down."

He stretches on his toes, bouncing at the prospect of getting out of camp. "Octavia will want to go."

Lincoln tilts his head, nodding it slightly as he finishes sketching the River Clan territory. "She'll want a horse."

Bellamy grins. "I guess the warriors get first choice then. You two and O might be the only ones to actually ride them."

Echo tilts her head, lips twitching but remaining passive. "Afraid of animals Bellamy?"

His eyes dance and his freckles twitch as he grins. "I like my feet on the ground."

* * *

* * *

* * *

"We should attack them before their wall is finished!" The leader of the sand stands stiffly, fist clenched. "It won't be long until they retaliate for leaving them at the mountain."

"He speaks the truth." A woman shifts in her seat, face covered by a cloth and the band of the Iron Clan around her bicep. "They have guns, if they choose to retaliated for your decision they could kill half of us, my brother will send weapons if needed."

Lexa clenches her jaw, hands tucked into her lower back. "The sky poses no danger."

The Iron clan glares at him spitefully. "They were betrayed at the mountain, they will want _revenge."_

"They show no signs of retaliation, leave them be." Lexa glares at all the representatives, danger bleeding from every muscle in her body. "If any clan attacks the sky it will bring an un needed war down upon us."

The Mountain Clan looks up, voice a low calm timber. "Their boundaries disrupt out trade routes."

"Then reroute them." She lets her fall into an impassive mask. "The land was given to the sky after our peace agreement."

"Which you broke." The Desert snorts out, eyes dark.

"I did not break a peace treaty, I broke a promise to take the mountain down." She faces them, hands trembling behind her back. "I left them to tear it down themselves. The territory is theirs rightfully."

The Ocean Clan give Lexa a respective nod before speaking. "And the mountain?"

Lexa stiffens. "It belong to the Ursa."

"She is of the sky." The Iron Clan woman huffs out, shaking her head. "What to say they won't claim it."

Lexa receives a head movement from Indra and she relaxes as she speaks. "They have not touched the mountain."

The Boat Clan looks up curiously. "Will they?"

"If they begin to occupy the mountain." The Commander swallows, eyes hard. "We will attack."

The Iron Clan representative clenches her jaw. "And the group that left the mountain weeks ago?"

"They came from the tunnels in the earth born clothing." Lexa meets her gaze head on, shoulders taut and ear ringing with the Heda's screech. "They are assumed to be nomads searching for supplies. Scavengers.'

* * *

* * *

* * *

The sky is slowly darkening and the wind chilling but the former reapers are calm. Nox, hair darker than the night and eyes the same, slips between the trees without making a sound. Leaves barely moving under his feet. Datak watches him with close eyes before attempting it. His feet crunch and he takes to climbing the tree and following after Nox that way, a game of cat and mouse they played to often. The branches creak and groan but there is a grin on his youthful face, dark hair twisted in braids.

Romona, brown hair thick with feathers, grins after Datak. "There's one I don't have to teach to climb." She shoves another warrior, Asha, soft faced and calm eyes to a tree. "Try it."

Isole snorts from her position by the fire, fingers tangled in cloth as she stitches fur into their coats. She had told them stories of the ice and snow as she stitched. Of her people and the fur they always had. Brown eyes watch the twenty something former reapers train and strengthen their muscles. Mirai is beside her, stitching a design into the chest f one of the jackets, her face is twisted in concentration as slowly the image becomes clearer.  The paw of and Ursa with the sun rise behind it is outlined, ready to be filled with color.

Behind them, Sar, thick dark curl framing her face and skin darkening even more under the sun watches the pale and slightly clumsy Asha attempt to climb the tree with Romona's barking laugh ringing out.

Datak drops from the tree, bumping into one of the warriors as he swing the ax to break apart a log. Grey eyes stare at the warrior who shifts the weight of the ax to his other hand before the young man speaks. "You're braids are crooked. Locke can fix them." The other warrior, a man tall er than them all and hair a mess of brown and blond grunts low in his throat before swinging the ax back down on a stump, shoulders slowly growing bigger, ribs still prominent.

"He is not right in the head Loki." It is one of the older warriors, hair tinged in grey but eyes wise. "His kind used to be cast away. The Lost, leave him be."

Datak tilts his head, eyes confused. "My mother loved me Yungsu, I was not cast away." 

"Datak!" Nox's voice is high and sharp but there is a grin on his lips that causes Datak to run over and catch up with him. Nox tosses the younger male a sword and they seamlessly switch from running to fighting. Nox moving easily out of the swipe of any blow, face bright.

Blue eyes flicker up at a shout and her eyes find Aidan falling from the tree, dirty blonde hair matted with leaves. "You leave your side open to much." Baladan's words are followed by the butt of his sword digging into her left side, it sends a spasm of pain through Clarke that almost makes her drop the sword from her left hand. She tightens her grip on it, gritting her teeth as she turns her gaze back to him. Baladan grins with mirth. "You may have the Ursa spirit in you but you are still the sky fallen girl who relies on her gun." His eyes find the gun that is tucked into the bag stung across the tree branch. "Even if you do not touch it."

Clarke licks her lips, panting through the pain before she brings her sword down heavily. Baladan blocks it easily, swiping his sword to the side and using his strength to spin her sword from her hand. She ducks under his slow swing and runs to her sword, her knees slide into the ground as she ducks under another wide swing and brings her sword up to block the next swing. "Good, but you must be faster."

Clarke blocks his next hit, left hand tight on the hilt as her right hands bring her knife forward and drives the pommel into Baladan's side. He grunts with wide eyes before breaking into hearty laugh. "good." He slides his sword down and then thrusts it to the side, ripping Clarke's left arm to the side and bring his own sheathed knife to her throat. His grin is bright, the former reapers had learned to embrace the emotions they had, too long had they gone without them. "But you must always watch."

Clarke scowls, chin tilted high. "I got you."

He snorts, face crinkling in amusement. "You stabbed me. I would not be dead."

"It would have punctured your lung." She digs her fingers into his side where the hit him with the knife hilt. "You die chocking on your own blood." Her eye brow raises and she tilts her head to the side. "I won that one."

He scowls, huffing lowly. "I suppose I must concede." His eyes brighten. "But I sill bet you plenty more Sunlight." Clarke wrinkles her nose and he presses a hand to her shoulder, shoving her lightly to the side. "Come, I am hungry."

A set of feet sound next to them as someone drops from the trees. "You are always hungry." Romona's hair is hidden under a dark rag and her face is a mess of mud and clear skin, she easily falls into step beside them as they make their way to the campsite for the night. 

Clarke's heart is slow for once, instead of this harsh aching feeling she is relaxed for once. Calm with exhaustion finally. There is raucous laughter and broken smiles around the camp of former reapers. Their hands still tremble across the hilt of their sword at the taste of blood in their mouth. Dark eyes slowly move until they spot Clarke and Baladan. The woman comes bounding over to them, small small edging across her lips. "It went well?"

"We are all building strength up." Baladan, standing, takes the bowl offered to him by Aidan, the green-eyed man nudges the younger man with his elbow playfully as he juggles his drink and bowl. "She is learning."

Isole's eyes find Clarke's hands, flitting up the wrist until she meets blue eyes again. "Knives, I've seen your work with the injured." She drops down beside Clarke. "You have steady hands."

Baladan flops to the ground, leaning his back against the tree as Aidan passes a bowl to Clarke and Isole, both woman nod their thanks to him as the other of the twenty-six riders sit down around the fire, food in their hands and fire warming their bodies. The man training her tilts his head to the side. "I've never worded with knives."

"I have." Isole tilts her chin to the knife strapped to Clarke's thigh as she shoves some food in her mouth. "I can train you as well as others."

Clarke ducks her head, red blooming across her cheeks. "Everyone will need to keep training, build their strength back up. You all had a lot taken out of you."

"As have you Clarke." Isole's dark eyes are gentle, and she shifts slightly closer to the blonde. "Give your mind a difficult task to focus on." 


End file.
